Indian Army Identity Discs

[BWEF]

It seems as if Nathan & Co of Delhi were making identity discs for the British Army in 1944.

Does anybody know more about this, or seen anything similar?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

[Mike Jackson]

What connects this to the British-Indian Army? An eight digit number - 14xxxxxx - isn't that a Pioneer Corps allocation?

[BWEF]

I believe that the eight figure numbers starting with 14 began to be issued in about 1942, as "General Service" numbers.

Prior to that a soldier would be issued with a number from the "block" of numbers first issued to his regiment or corps in 1920.

I think that this man was a British soldier, name and C of E religion, who was serving in India etc towards the end of WW2. It is the seller who believes this man to have been in the Indian army.

Out of interest, the "Redcaps" have something set up that will tell you a mans unit, or date of entry into the army. Easier than finding one of those lists of the "blocks".

http://www.corpsofmilitarypolice.org/tools/armynumber

I was wondering if this soldier had just lost his identity disc, and privately purchased a replacement, or if Nathan & Co had some sort of a contract with the British army? I know that metal discs were worn in the far east as the fibre ones did not do too well in the climate. Maybe Nathan supplied some?

[BWEF]

These tags sold for £42!

I believe that the ebay link above will only be good for 3 months, so am posting a couple of pics of the identity discs for reference "down the line".